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Dorothy Gonzales

Trustee Dorothy V. Gonzales

Dorothy Gonzales' first term on the Board of Trustees began January 1, 1993 after years of working with Michigan State University's faculty, staff and students. She was re-elected November 2000 and currently serves on the Board of Trustees Policy committee.

Gonzales was recently appointed as the Director of the Wayne County Department of Health and Community Services. Prior to her Wayne County appointment, she was Director of the Michigan Department of Community Health's Office of Multicultural Services. She worked in State government for 24 years, first serving as a research analyst in the State House of Representatives, and later as an educational policy adviser to Governor James Blanchard.

In 1995, she served as chair of the Michigan Association of Governing Boards (MAGB), the statewide organization for governing boards of Michigan's 15 public four-year universities.

Gonzales has served as a guidance counselor in MSU's Office of Supportive Services, where she offered academic, personal, social and career guidance to low-income and educationally challenged students. She is a practicum instructor for the School of Social Work, and was an adviser to the College of Nursing's strategic planning committee.

Gonzales has worked with MSU's School of Criminal Justice in its efforts to reduce the number of minority youth in the juvenile justice system, and with the College of Human Medicine on AIDS education and prevention.

She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in social work from Siena Heights College, Adrian, Michigan in 1978, and a master's degree in business and personnel administration from Central Michigan University in 1989.

She is a resident of East Lansing.